Object Groups

Frank M. Strong, Vergennes, Vermont, invented the Howe Scale. In 1856, with Thomas Ross, Strong obtained his first patent, which became the first outstanding scale improvement in America, and the foundation of the present business. The first scale with the improved ball bearing was installed at Vernon Village Mills, Oenida County, N.Y., 1856. In 1858 Howe began to win awards consistently at fairs and exhibitions, and by 1859 had no competition. At the Paris Exposition, 1867, Howe took first prizes

These records of this company, located in Kansas City, Missouri, include invoices; bills of material (quantity surveys); sales records with model name, number, date, customer; and promotional literature and specifications

Cite as

American Scale and Service Company Records, 1912-1956, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Wilcox was a colonel in the Army, residing in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota

Summary

Correspondence with Nathaniel Greene Wilcox family; legal documents; newspaper clippings, including the July 3, 1860 issue of THE RUSHVILLE TIMES, illustrated with articles and editorials about the 1860 presidential candidates

Guglielmo Marconi spent his entire life developing wireless communication into a practical reality

Summary

A photomechanical photograph (with plate marks, bearning Marconi's signature) of the Marchese Marconi and two photographic copy prints of the Marchese, the Marchesa, and their daughter Elettra Marconi. Also three copy photographs (in control file) made by OPPS, apparently from a loan

Cite as

Marconi Family Portraits, 1930s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Maria and Elletra Marconi

Edward F. Maziarz (Eddie Falcon) was born on September 12, 1891 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By the Fall of 1911, he, Edward Bykowski, and Anton (Tony) Walker started their aerial act. Except for an interruption while Eddie Falcon served in the Navy (1918-1919), the group performed quite steadily from 1912-1931

Summary

Photographs of the Falcon Trio while performing, some personal, and of fellow performers; newspaper clippings of advertisements and articles featuring the Trio; contracts; correspondence with booking agents; and railroad stubs and ephemera

Cite as

Falcon Trio Vaudville Collection, 1912-1931, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Harris, radio engineer and executive, served in various capacities in the Tropical Radio Telegraph Company, a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company, 1916-1963

Summary

Correspondence, notes, articles, and photographs assembled by Harris on the history of the United Fruit Company and Tropical Radio Telegraph Company (TRT), 1904-1961. Also includes manuscript histories of companies; material on the application of teletypewriters to radio circuits; blueprints, schematics, reports, and manuals concerning the technical work on TRT; and a scrapbook of William Edgar Beakes, president of TRT, 1939-1943

Cite as

Charles Cohill Harris Collection, ca. 1906-1976, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

N W Ayer is the 14th largest advertising agency in the United States, according to a 1982 "pocket guide" published by the firm. It is the oldest agency in the United States, founded as N W Ayer & Son in Philadelphia in 1869 by 21-year-old Francis Wayland Ayer, who started his business by representing religious weekly newspapers. Ayer was the first agency to hire a full-time copywriter (1892) and the first to hire an artist (1898). In 1908 it became the agency for A T & T, and launched its first corporate advertising campaign

Summary

More than 400,000 proofs of advertisements prepared by the firm and published in newspapers and periodicals. Includes advertising for more than 20 automobile manufacturers, American Telephone & Telegraph Company (from 1908), Cannon Mills (since 1920), De Beers diamond advertising (since 1939), United Air Lines (from 1938); many others. Of special interest are ads pioneering the use of fine art in advertising by artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Willem de Kooning, and Pablo Picasso

Two scrapbooks containing postcards, stamps, and hand-written information about various states of the United States. The initial pages in volume 1 contain information about the early history of postcards in Europe and the United States

Cite as

Loretta Thomsen Smith Picture Postcard Collection, 1900-1970,Archives Center, National Museum of American History